2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana

The 2008 congressional elections in Indiana were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the State of Indiana in the United States House of Representatives. Indiana has nine seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The elections coincide with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana

← 2006 November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04) 2010 →
All 9 Indiana seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 5 4 Seats won 5 4 Seat change Popular vote 1,388,963 1,240,577 Percentage 51.89% 46.34% Swing 3.15% 3.56%
Results by district Results by county Democratic   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Republican   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

The delegation comprised five Democrats and four Republicans. All 9 incumbents won re-election. As of 2025, this is the last time in which Democrats won both a majority of U.S. House seats and the House popular vote in Indiana.

District makeup

District makeup
District	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
Incumbent	Pete Visclosky	Joe Donnelly	Mark Souder	Steve Buyer	Dan Burton	Mike Pence	André Carson	Brad Ellsworth	Baron Hill
CPVI	D+8	R+4	R+16	R+17	R+20	R+11	D+9	R+9	R+7
CQ Rating[1]	Safe D	Safe D	Leans R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe D	Safe D	D Favored

Overview

United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana, 2008[2]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
	Democratic	1,388,963	51.89%	5	-
	Republican	1,240,577	46.34%	4	-
	Libertarian	47,306	1.77%	0	-
	Independents	4	<0.01%	0	-
Totals		2,676,850	100.00%	9	-

District 1

See also: Indiana's 1st congressional district

This district includes a small strip of northwest Indiana and had been represented by Democrat Pete Visclosky since January 1985. The district has been one of the most Democratic in Indiana. John Kerry defeated George W. Bush in this district 55% to 44% in 2004. CQ Politics forecast the race as Safe Democrat.

Results

Indiana's 1st congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pete Visclosky (incumbent)	199,954	70.90
	Republican	Mark Leyva	76,647	27.18
	Libertarian	Jeff Duensing	5,421	1.92
Total votes			282,022	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 2

See also: Indiana's 2nd congressional district

This district is centered on South Bend, Indiana and the Indiana portion of the Michiana region. It had been represented by Democrat Joe Donnelly since January 2007. CQ Politics forecast the race as Safe Democrat.

Polling

Source	Date	Joe Donnelly (D)	Luke Puckett (R)
South Bend Tribune/ Research 2000[3]	September 29–30, 2008	53%	35%

Results

Indiana's 2nd congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Donnelly (incumbent)	187,416	67.09
	Republican	Luke Puckett	84,455	30.23
	Libertarian	Mark Vogel	7,475	2.68
Total votes			279,346	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 3

See also: Indiana's 3rd congressional district

This district is located in the northeast corner of Indiana and has a large population center in Fort Wayne. Republican Mark Souder represented the district since January 1995 and was challenged by Mike Montagano in 2008. CQ Politics forecast the race as Leans Republican. George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in this district 68% to 31%.

Polling

Source	Date	Democrat: Mike Montagano	Republican: Mark Souder
Howey Gauge[4]	October 23–24, 2008	44%	41%
Research 2000[5]	October 16–18, 2008	40%	45%
Winston Group[6]	October 15–16, 2008	41%	50%
Cooper and Secrest[7]	October 6–7, 2008	39%	44%
Cooper and Secrest[8]	April 24–27, 2008	28%	55%

Results

Indiana's 3rd congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Souder (incumbent)	155,693	55.04
	Democratic	Mike Montagano	112,309	39.70
	Libertarian	William R. Larsen	14,877	5.26
Total votes			282,879	100.00
	Republican hold

District 4

See also: Indiana's 4th congressional district

This district is located in west-central Indiana. Located within the district is the city of West Lafayette, Lafayette, Bedford, Monticello, Brownsburg, Plainfield, Zionsville, Lebanon, Frankfort, Greenwood and parts of Indianapolis and many smaller suburban towns. It had been represented by Republican Steve Buyer since January 1993. CQ Politics forecast the race as Safe Republican.

Polling

Source	Date	Democrat: Nels Ackerson	Republican: Steve Buyer
Journal & Courier[9]	September 12–14, 2008	36%	38%

Results

Indiana's 4th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Buyer (incumbent)	192,526	59.87
	Democratic	Nels Ackerson	129,038	40.13
Total votes			321,564	100.00
	Republican hold

District 5

See also: Indiana's 5th congressional district

This district located mostly north of Indianapolis is one of the most reliably Republican in America, having voted 71%-28% for George W. Bush in 2004. It was represented by Republican Dan Burton. CQ Politics forecast the race as Safe Republican.

Results

Indiana's 5th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Burton (incumbent)	234,705	65.55
	Democratic	Mary Etta Ruley	123,357	34.45
Total votes			358,062	100.00
	Republican hold

District 6

See also: Indiana's 6th congressional district

This district takes in a large portion of eastern Indiana, including the cities of Muncie, Anderson, and Richmond. It was represented by Republican Mike Pence. CQ Politics forecast the race as Safe Republican.

Results

Indiana's 6th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Pence (incumbent)	180,608	63.95
	Democratic	Barry Welsh	94,265	33.38
	Libertarian	George T. Holland	7,539	2.67
Total votes			282,412	100.00
	Republican hold

District 7

See also: Indiana's 7th congressional district

This district is in the heart of Central Indiana and encompasses most of Marion County/Indianapolis. André Carson won the special election to fill this seat and represented Indiana's 7th congressional district since March 13, 2008.

Carson won the primary election with 46%, while Woody Myers received 24%, David Orentlicher received 21%, and Carolene Mays received 8%.^[10] Carson and his Republican challenger in the special election, Jon Elrod, were set to face off in the general election but Elrod dropped out.^[11] Gabrielle Campo was selected by a party caucus to face the incumbent, Carson.^[12] John Kerry defeated George W. Bush in this district 58% to 41% in 2004. CQ Politics forecast the race as Safe Democratic.

Polling

Source	Date	Democrat: André Carson	Republican: Gabrielle Campo
Research 2000/WISH-TV[13]	October 24–28, 2008	53%	38%
Research 2000/WISH-TV[14]	September 29-October 3, 2008	51%	35%

Results

Indiana's 7th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	André Carson (incumbent)	172,650	65.08
	Republican	Gabrielle Campo	92,645	34.92
	Write-ins		4	0.00
Total votes			265,299	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 8

See also: Indiana's 8th congressional district

This district has been nicknamed the "Bloody Eighth" because of a series of hard-fought tight campaigns and political reversals.^[15] It ousted six incumbents from 1966 to 1982. The election in 1984 was so close that it was decided in Congress. In 2000, a New York Times reporter said of the district: "With a populist streak and a conservative bent, this district does not cotton to country-club Republicans or to social-engineering liberals," and also said "More than 95 percent white and about 41 percent rural, the region shares much of the flavor of the Bible Belt."^[16] Evansville and Terre Haute are located within its limits and was represented by Democrat Brad Ellsworth. CQ Politics forecast the race as Safe Democratic.

Results

Indiana's 8th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brad Ellsworth (incumbent)	188,693	64.74
	Republican	Greg Goode	102,769	35.26
Total votes			291,462	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 9

See also: Indiana's 9th congressional district

This district is located in southeast Indiana. This swing district has been recently fought out by Democrat Baron Hill and Republican Mike Sodrel. Hill beat Sodrel in 2002, Sodrel beat Hill in 2004, and Hill beat Sodrel in 2006 to become the 9th's representative. Hill spent the most on his campaign of those in Indiana, spending $2.2 million.^[17] The largest city located within the district is Bloomington followed by Columbus, New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Clarksville which all have Democratic Mayors or Council Presidents. CQ Politics forecast the race as Democrat Favored.

Polling

Source	Date	Democrat: Baron Hill	Republican: Mike Sodrel
Survey USA[18]	October 22–23, 2008	54%	39%
Survey USA[19]	October 4–5, 2008	53%	38%
Research 2000/WISH-TV[20]	September 29-October 3, 2008	49%	37%
Survey USA[21]	September 8–10, 2008	50%	39%
Survey USA[22]	July 28–30, 2008	49%	42%
Survey USA[23]	June 16–18, 2008	51%	40%

Results

Indiana's 9th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Baron Hill (incumbent)	181,281	57.77
	Republican	Mike Sodrel	120,529	38.41
	Libertarian	D. Eric Schansberg	11,994	3.82
Total votes			313,804	100.00
	Democratic hold

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 2008
• Indiana gubernatorial election, 2008

References

1. "Balance of Power Scorecard: House". CQ Politics. May 11, 2008. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
2. "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
3. South Bend Tribune/
   Research 2000 ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
4. Howey Gauge
5. Research 2000
6. Winston Group
7. Cooper and Secrest
8. Cooper and Secrest
9. Journal & Courier
10. Staff, The Hill (May 7, 2008). "State by State". The Hill.
11. "Indystar.com: Elrod drops race against Andre Carson".
12. "Indystar.com: GOP selects a newcomer to face Carson".
13. Research 2000/WISH-TV
14. Research 2000/WISH-TV ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
15. "General election".
16. Dirk Johnson, "The 2000 Campaign: An Indiana Race; Conservatives Face Off in Quirky Populist District", The New York Times, October 10, 2000
17. Groppe, Maureen (December 6, 2008). "Baron Hill's win over Mike Sodrel most expensive". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved December 13, 2008. ^{[dead link‍]}
18. Survey USA
19. Survey USA
20. Research 2000/WISH-TV ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
21. Survey USA
22. Survey USA ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
23. Survey USA

External links

• Indiana Elections Division
• U.S. Congress candidates for Indiana at Project Vote Smart
• "Indiana U.S. House Races, from 2008 Race Tracker". Archived from the original on June 30, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
• "Campaign contributions for Indiana congressional races, from OpenSecrets.org". Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Preceded by 2006 elections

United States House elections in Indiana 2008

Succeeded by 2010 elections